The Irish of Nantes with Bordeaux and Pau

The expression Irish of Nantes denotes a community formed in the 17th century and of great importance in the 18th century. It was originally composed of Jacobite political refugees from Ireland fleeing the Glorious Revolution of 1688. This community eventually extended to the ports of Bordeaux and La Rochelle as well as to the French colony of Saint-Domingue.

The refugees were largely aristocrats, no longer able to bear arms or command troops. They threw themselves instead into colonial trade, creating numerous trading companies, among them those leading in the Transatlantic slave trade. They also integrated themselves fully into the city of Nantes, marrying the daughters of the local nobility. In Ireland these refugees in France were known as Wild Geese by their detractors.

Nantes was the foremost port for the Irish trading fleet. Out of sixty Jacobite company headquarters and trading houses in Europe in the mid-18th century, two thirds were based in four ports: 12 in Nantes, 9 in Bordeaux, 8 in Cadiz and a dozen in Stockholmand Gothenburg (although these were essentially branch offices).

The community also included a large number of priests. Bishop Robert Barry of Cork, Bishop Cornelius O’Keefe of Limerick and Bishop Patrick Comerford of Waterford all lived in Nantes. In 1695, the Bishop of Nantes gave them the use of his residence during the summer, the manoir de la Touche, which was to become a seminary for Irish priests, active until the French Revolution.

Lastly, there were Irish people of more modest rank or means, who generally took on occupations relating to maritime commerce – captains, pilots, coopers and porters.

Much further in southern France the Quin's of Ireland were so well known that Rue O'Quinand were such good citizens that the street was named for them.